The continuing adventures of a cruising sailor/family lawyer, his wife (also a lawyer), and their young children.

Abandoned Row Boat

Keith, wet and windy08/21/2008, Hilton Head Near The Boat Ramp

Every once in a while you see an abandoned boat at low tide. I just thought this made a nice photo. Jake naturally walked down into the mud to check out what I was so interested in so I had him wash off down the boat ramp nearby.

We're not going to get a hurricane here this time but it is getting rather blowy outside. I wouldn't want to be traveling some of the more technical and narrow parts of the ICW with gusty conditions - especially not our next leg through Georgia, where the ICW is reputed to be in its worst state in terms of unmaintained shoaling. No, we are stuck here and the system is presently stationary - just sitting there churning out bad weather. It's going to be cloudy, windy, and rainy for the next few days or more according to the forecast while the thing moves slowly west. Part of me wishes I didn't have so much information from the internet about the weather so I could assure myself however falsely that I'm leaving real soon. But, as I said before, there are certainly worse places to get stranded. I've got four secure dock lines and 5 bumpers between the boat and the dock. The a/c is still working. It seems we'll survive this first serious storm of our sailing adventures.

It's raining here now, but the photo above is what it looked like before we started experiencing the leading edge of a tropical storm. Whow, we just took some wind and the boat leaned over at the dock. I think I will secure the boat even better today to minimize the chance that it will be damaged by rubbing. Back to Jake, he's always been one to roll in things like mud or much worse, but since we've been away from home, he just rolls because he can and to express the joy of life and the ability to run free for some time.

We've been in Hilton Head just about a week, believe it or not. Time flies. I'm officially getting work done on the boat but unofficially I'm waiting out the remnents of Fay in a safe and comfortable location. We are already starting to get the outer bands. Nothing serious, just rainy unsettled weather. I've been trying to get non-boat things done, but that work is slow going. So is the boat work for that matter at this point. My mechanic told me straight out that he is deliberately slowing down on the final things so I will stay through the storm. I can't complain. Free dock space near the Hilton Head Yacht Club to get fixed up and to wait out a storm. The dogs have gotten excellent walks with and without their friend Monty (I just saw him go by for his morning walk but Jake and Anne are sleeping and I am blogging, so we'll go later). Sleep is good, including a nap on occasion. Frankly I'm ready to head on and have been for days, but if we're going to get stranded somewhere, here is better than good.

Sunday was, as usual in these parts, a relaxed day. Last night after midnight it rained heavily but the boat remained cool and dry, which was really comfortable. There's something about being in a boat when it's pouring outside but dry inside that is very satisfying. If we weren't on shore power, it would have gotten muggy inside with all the hatches closed, but we had ac, so it was cool and dry inside. We had better enjoy it while we have it because I suspect the hottest and most humid phase of this summer's cruising adventures is ahead of us. Today so far we are replacing the oil and the rest of the oil and fuel filters. This diesal engine has three filters for the fuel and a filter for the oil. We are also going to replace the water impellor and seals, and replace and properly tighten the belt. That should put the engine in order for the next 500 - 1000 miles or more. There are some other little projects that will take us perhaps until tomorrow and then Tropical Dreamer will be ready to head on. However, about that time, Fay or its remnents will be headed our way, so we may stick around. We'll see. I've got a court hearing that I'm appearing at telephonically early this afternoon, so it's good to be parked here for today. Starting to feel the urge to continue cruising, but again with Fay coming, we can't just boldly go south. Perhaps it will dissapate in a harmless direction... Nobody here thinks it will be very much when it gets this far north.

I broke out some authentic beans from Mexico and my bottle of Huichol. I doctor the canned beans with 1/2 and 1/2 and some cheddar cheese and other spices. The tortillas are pan toasted. Mmm, the taste of home.

Keith, rainy last night - Anne came up into bed with me as she doesn't like the thunder08/17/2008, I'm in Hilton Head, she is in Cuba but evidently coming this way

Well, well, well, what do we have here. I spent some time early this morning studying this system and it isn't likely to hit us hard, but it seems were likely to feel its effect more or less. The predictions for this area are 20-30% chance of heavy winds later this week. However, if it does turn into a hurricaine and tracks as predicted, we will be on the top right portion of the system, which is the dangerous side. I'm in a pretty safe place now, but this thing isn't supposed to come our way until Wednesday or Thursday. Lets just take it one day at a time. If it doesn't look good to head south again on Monday or Tuesday, perhaps we'll be here for longer than expected. I've discussed with my German friends an action plan in the even a hurricaine hits in this area. We will anchor our boats in a protected spot near here, get the dogs and ourselves and the most important things in their Ford Explorer, and evacuate away from the shore, leaving the sailboats to sink or swim. And we're not going to leave the dogs even if the shelter won't allow animals. Probably nothing will happen and the system will dissapate long before it gets here, but just in case.